Novell Inc has announced the availability of its Distributed Print Services, co-developed with Hewlett-Packard Co and Xerox Corp, and aimed at eliminating many of the costs associated with distributed network printing. First announced last March (CI No 3,131), Novell Distributed Print Services is based on existing Novell IntranetWare components, and uses Novell Directory Services NDS, to enable network managers to control and manage network printers from a single workstation. Used in conjunction with the Hewlett-Packard printer gateway, and a similar utility from Xerox, system administrators should be able to plug a printer into the network and use it immediately with no further configuration, Novell says. Users will also get feedback on print job status, and if a printer is down or busy, they can simply transfer the job to a different printer. The companies say Novell Distributed Print Services are fully backward compatible, and support all types of printers whether or not they are configured with the new capabilities. Xerox and Hewlett-Packard are both shipping gateways for their existing printers to enable them to take advantage of the new features immediately. Distributed Print Services is available immediately for NetWare 4.1 and IntranetWare on CD-ROM at $50.
